Dancer in the Shadows
by KentouKurige
Summary: There are those who seem to dance through our lives like shadows in our world... but what would it take for the shadow to suddenly become real? Deathfic (kinda), no pairings, though could be hinted as such ... Enjoy! COMPLETE!
1. Dancer in the Shadows

Dancer of the Shadows  
  
The little horse-chibi looks up apologetically at the Chinese pilot, as the two stand together in the writing room, she perched on the crescent desk.  
Shouri: I'm sorry Wufei!  
Wufei: What are you talking about Onn. er, Uma! Lot's of authors kill me off when they write!  
Shouri: I know. but I don't usually do it. You're the first one I have ever killed! Shouri looks ready to cry. Wufei looks uncomfortable.  
Wufei: Now, don't you start crying! I really don't mind! Shouri brightens into a happy smile and hugs him.  
Shouri: Tankies 'Fei. you know, it's only 'cause you're my absolute favorite in the who~ole world! She bounces up and kisses him lightly on the cheek. He blushes and stammers out a complaint. Then she suddenly squeals.  
Shouri: Oh! I have an idea! She bounces over to the Internet window shining bluely from the wall, kneeling on the couch that lines the wall beneath it and looking out at the readers.  
Shouri: This is the deathfic that is nothing of the sort! ... I think... Read, review, and then be ready for my epilogue!  
  
God dammit! What went wrong?! The dark cool air of the colony's atmosphere blurs past with the dark shadows of the trees. Flames brighten the night, and he clenches his eyes shut for an instant against the flare.  
  
The night rocks with the thunderous booms of explosions, and his bike sways, almost losing its balance as a spray of bullets impact along his path. A soft cry tears at his throat as fire and molten shrapnel shreds into his left arm. Dark eyes open in surprise, and he yelps as a blast sends his bike flying through the air.  
  
He lands with an undignified sprawl. His injured leg contacts first upon his attempt to right himself, and collapses under him, sending him into a damaging tumble once more. The harsh road surface gives way beneath him into open air and then slicing foliage. The world explodes into white-hot light that consists only of pain.  
  
His tired eyes blink open once more to the sound of his pursuit coming ever nearer. He staggers up and leans heavily against the tree he was sprawled near. Things seem darker, but somehow more focused, and the ground rocks under heavy explosions, nearly causing him to lose his footing more than once as he staggers deeper into the woods, one hand clutching at the sluggish blood creeping down his left arm, limping. A slow warmth seeps downwards from the sharp pain in his right thigh.  
  
. I'm bleeding. it must have soaked through. for some reason, this revelation doesn't cause the rage that sustains him through his missions to rise, only leaves him feeling oddly resigned. His head throbs with the thunder of war, and he can barely hear the sounds of his pursuers behind him.  
  
Is this the right way? I think so. it can't be much further, just a little bit further. why are they still bombing?. he stumbles once more, and the ground beneath him tilts and drops out from under him, sending him tumbling down a twenty foot incline into an icy stream. He shivers, and his eyes rise to a shadow that looms over him. A tiny smirk rises to his lips, and once more he limps towards his goal, the silent demon in the dark . Nataku.  
  
An explosion lights the colony hull, and the Gundam tumbles out through the breach in a shock of escaping atmosphere. Why. why am I doing this? A squadron of Mobile Dolls appears as he lurches away from the damaged colony.  
  
"Leave me be! Just let me leave!" The soulless machines pay his screams no mind, and his suits hands reach out and tear them apart, leaving a trail of fire and carnage behind.  
  
"AH!" Altron rocks, slamming him around the cockpit, and without his safety harness on, he loses his grip on the controls and his Gundam tumbles, sparking with damage. Breathing hard, he manages to right himself and urge the struggling behemoth away from the battlefield and into the obscurity of the endless fields of black and white.  
  
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Sloe eyes open with infinite slowness and sparkle with the reflections of a field of stars .wha'?. he blinks. Sluggish with cold, his benumbed fingers rise in front of him and his blurry eyes focus slowly on the floating red.  
  
. I'm still bleeding. I've got to. do something. with slow and stumbling movements, he binds more clothes tightly around his leg, and stopping the steady trickle of blood.  
  
I'm so cold and tired. I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it back to the safe house. and Nataku is unable to operate like this. Dark eyes slide shut and his frozen mind flounders. I'm sorry my friends. and darkness claims him once more.  
  
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"Wufei." ...  
  
"Wufei!." .nhm.  
  
"Wufei!." . huh?.  
  
"Wufei!" .what?. Wufei's eyes refuse to open, but his heavy head tries to turn towards the sound, only to refuse to move, just as his leaden limbs have. I know that voice.  
  
"Wufei! Oh God, Wu!" Altron moves around him like a cradle, but he barely feels it, but for the throb in his head. Clouded eyes slit open slightly, and light sparkles off of the frosting of ice crystals that adorns his thick eyelashes.  
  
The light brightens, and his eyes close in agony, his breath shredding at his throat as fresh air rushes in, so hot it burns like fire and smothers him. A nearly inaudible keen echoes in his lungs, his voice dead from cold. Brands light on his skin, and his lips draw back slightly as his head rocks back, his bodies attempt to snarl in pain. Liquid fire surrounds him in a broad band, and his aching throat burns as he tries to groan.  
  
"Wu, oh God. hang on! We've got you, hang on! You're gonna be okay, ya here?! You're gonna be fine!" Feverish onyx eyes drop halfway open as soft breaths heat his frozen face, melting the ice. Cobalt blue eyes stare into his own from below a fringe of chestnut brown hair. Beside him, a second concerned face calls to the others to hurry, pale blue eyes glowing from beneath shining blonde hair. A tiny smile quirks his chapped and bleeding lips.  
  
. Duo. Quatre. I'm sorry my friends. Duo leans in, his smile frantic as he clutches his comrade to him, alarmed by the radiating chill of his pallid skin. His normally golden features are pasty yellow, and his fiery dark eyes are clouded. They are the same height, he knows, but this is the first time he has ever really noticed how much smaller Wufei seems.  
  
His wrists are narrow, his whole body slender in a way that makes him seems dainty, delicate even. His slight weight seems negligent in Duo's arms. Quatre leans down as the Chinese pilot shudders and attempts to say something. The sounds that escape his blue tinged lips, other than the slowly escalating chatter of his teeth, is so faint that he has to read his lips more than he hears the words.  
  
".I'm sorry." Duo blinks and clutches Wufei tighter.  
  
"Oh God, Wufei! Why didn't you call for backup!" Guilty images flash through Quatre's mind. him and Duo laughing, Trowa watching, a tiny smile hovering on his lips, while Heero steals glances at them from the corner of his eye, fingers flying surely over his keyboard despite his focal orientation. Wufei standing by the door, dark eyes unreadable, as he gazes at them. Wufei stalking out without a word.  
  
Oh Wufei. why didn't you ask one of us for help? We would have. Quatre watches dark eyes flutter closed once more, his heart wrenching.  
  
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.where ?.where am I?. his eyes struggle to half-mast, while bright colors blur before his gaze. His entire existence is nothing but pain. A soft groan splits his head, hoarse and broken, and it takes him a while to realize that he had made the noise. Gentle fingers brush along his heated skin, tucking their calloused pads along his jaw line in a strangely soothing gesture, and his heavy skull tilts with much effort, making his eyes clench shut with the waves of nausea.  
  
". easy, it's alright, Wu." The whispered voice sends stabs of pain through his head, but washes over him in a reassuring wave of warmth. He opens his eyes again, still in a world of smeared color. A shadow of black moves beside him, and those cool fingers return, stroking the fire from his face. A deeper murmur in the distance echoes in his mind as his lungs tremble, wrenching a ragged cough out of him. And then darkness swoops in once more, accompanying the rush of new cold and weakness.  
  
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Duo sobs, dry wracking jerks of grief as his mind chants its litany of 'boy's don't cry!' Trowa stares down at the bed silently, and Quatre weeps harshly into his hands, hiccupping in his distress. Only Heero still moves, pulling up the sheet.  
  
"Down to four." He intones without inflection, but his eyes are sharp with sadness and grief.  
  
"Oh God, we let him down." Duo whimpers as he stares at the bloody sheets.  
  
And unseen by all, a pair of dark sloe eyes watch with unblinking devotion.  
  
You are not alone my friends. don't give up yet! Justice demands that you win! And we will be here to help you. behind him, a young girl with warrior's eyes rests a hand lightly on his shoulder, and he smiles slightly at her. And below them in the room, a pair of clear blue eyes, stained with tears, look up at the waves of comfort and confidence, and shoots a watery smile to the dark empty corner of the room. Our fight is just beginning! We will fight on Wufei, I promise. I just wish you weren't gone. I wish we had a second chance. oh Allah.  
  
He rolls onto his side and curls into a little ball one his bed, turning his back on the other bed and its burden, and cries.  
  
Wufei looks at the silver maned chibi and frowns.  
Wufei: Uma, what were you talking about? That was most definitely a deathfic! I died! Shouri grins happily and twirls the ragged pencil.  
Shouri: I know! But I still hafta write the epilogue!  
Wufei: . and that will prove what exactly? I'm dead! Shouri hums happily, a mischievous grin on her face.  
Shouri: You'll hafta read if ya wanna know! She looks up at the Window to the Internet World once more.  
Shouri: Well then, if you liked the ficcy as is, 'cause you enjoy a good deathfic, then stop reading! Review and move on! However, for those of you who are as sad as me when the charries die, there's one more little chapter, just for you! On to the epilogue! And she ducks her head to her pad once more, writing furiously as Wufei watches in confusion. 


	2. Epilogue Second Chances

Epilogue:  
  
Quatre sits up with a gasp, hands clutching his chest over his heart. His breath comes in short, ragged bursts, and tears stream down his face.  
  
Something stirs in the room, and the blonde turns to towards the wall and blinks. The other bed in the room isn't pushed up against the wall. It's back in the middle, where it was before Heero slammed it aside to make more floor space for medical supplies, and the coverlet is unstained and smooth. Peering at him from under the edge is a pair of brilliant green eyes.  
  
"Trowa?." the other pilot stretches slightly.  
  
"Nightmare?" Quatre blinks, and slowly things add up in his head. He suddenly smiles so brightly it is as if the room was lit with the presence of the noonday sun.  
  
". it was a nightmare. it was a nightmare!" Ecstatic, he leaps up and charges down the hall, Trowa watching in confusion as he disappears. The first light of dawn is brightening the sky.  
  
Skidding across the floor in his bare feet, Quatre loses his balance just as the bathroom door opens. Wufei, his hair loose and wet, his clothing dampened, but clean, steps out just in time to collide with the excited blond.  
  
"AHHH!" Quatre wails as he bears Wufei to the ground. Wufei blinks at him, a scowl on his face, but somehow Quatre doesn't believe it. He can feel Wufei's chest quivering with withheld laughter beneath him.  
  
"Uh. oh! I'm sorry Wufei!" Quatre gets off of him, and offers him a hand, which Wufei waves away. Quatre stares at him as he rises, heart pounding with new joy. Duo is giggling his head off from the door to his room, and Heero snorts once before he edges past them to get to the kitchen. Trowa appears, pulling on a green turtleneck, and since he is already up, Duo bounces after them in his boxers and tank.  
  
Blushing, Quatre follows, still in his PJs, and they have breakfast a bit earlier. Around seven, Duo begins bouncing off the walls, not surprising given the fact that he has had approximately five cups of coffee-laced sugar, since he 'got up so damn early.'  
  
"Hey guys! Since there aren't any missions today, how about we go do something!" Heero looks at him.  
  
"We should stay here and do something constructive." Duo makes a face.  
  
"Come on spoilsport! None of the Gundams have taken any damage; they're still perfect from their last servicing! And we could use a little down time!" After a short pause to consider, Heero finally agrees. Trowa joins in to help plan what they should do, and as Duo excitedly suggests a nearby theme park, Wufei puts his dishes in the washer and starts to leave. Quatre watches him.  
  
"Wufei! Aren't you going to come?" He queries. Wufei jerks and turns to look at him, carefully masked surprise written on his face. Duo blinks, and then suddenly whips around, a grin on his face.  
  
"Hey! Where do you think you're goin'!? We are all going out, and that means you too!" Wufei sputters, and makes a flimsy excuse. Heero looks at him sideways.  
  
"If I have to go, so do you." Wufei stops arguing, and crosses his arms, leaning against a wall and 'ignoring' them in his indignation, but Quatre can see a glimmer of a smile on his lips. He smiles happily, and the pain that has been plaguing his chest for weeks evaporates into a warm glow of contentment.  
  
Shouri giggles. Behind her, Quatre peeks through the door, smiling. Wufei is looking at the notebook with an incredulous look on his face. He looks up at the little Uma-chibi. She grins and waves, still perched on the desk.  
Shouri: See? You're not dead! Wufei buries his face in his hand.  
Wufei: Uma, you're ridiculous. She nods, and then flees the room, giggling as she turns off the light on him.  
  
REVIEW PLEASE!!! Tankiwa! 


End file.
